indeed. i have no idea about xterm so i need to know exactly what to do if its going to help me :/

I am experiencing this problem as well... plugging in a USB keyboard to my N800 disables the onscreen keyboard (good)... both unplugging the keyboard or unmounting the USB keyboard by clicking on the icon on the top bar *then* unplugging the keyboard fails to bring back the onscreen keyboard (bad).

The only way I know how to re-enable the onscreen keyboard functionality is to reboot the unit. Anybody come up with a solution that doesn't involve a reboot? Thanks for any help...

given that this also happens when using bluetooth keyboards im starting to wonder if there is some issue with the way the onscreen keyboard is told to show or not.

does anyone have any knowledge about how it gets the signal that a physical keyboard is now "inserted" and it should stay away?

hmm, maybe it could be related to how the slider keyboard on the N810 works, as it should probably trigger some of the same stuff, right?

i just had a look using the gconf editor, and found that there is a box under /system/osso/af labeled keyboard-attached. this becomes checked when i pair my bluetooth keyboard with my N800, and should in theory go unchecked when i turn the keyboard off.

turning the check on manually seems to stop the onscreen keyboard from going active.

so people, if you have trouble getting the onscreen keyboard to show, go and see if the box is checked, and if it is, try to uncheck it.

That did it! I installed the gconf editor and noted that - after unplugging the USB keyboard - the 'keyboard-attached' setting was still checked... Unchecking that option restored the onscreen keyboard... Thanks!

glad it worked. now if we could figure out what it is thats forgetting to uncheck that option when a keyboard is unplugged...

funny thing is that i found it while looking for a way to slow down the finger keyboard check, as i currently rather use the center dpad then whack the screen as is currently required...

Thus, in OS2008, we can execute xterm command
gconftool-2 -t bool -s /system/osso/af/keyboard-attached true
for disabling virtual keyboard and
gconftool-2 -t bool -s /system/osso/af/keyboard-attached false
for enabling virtual keyboard.
It may be more convenient (in the script for example) then manually using gconf editor.

true, but for the odd time when the keyboard gets stuck. having gconf editor handy to unstick it may be just as simple (if it do not happen to often).

Good spot with the gconf setting there! I've been looking for that one for a while now (particularly handy for the USB Mouse app since the tablet detects the mouse as a HID device and disables the onscreen keyboard!).

I can shed some light on the strange/random USB keyboard issue by the way (as far as bluetooth, I don't know I've run into it once or twice myself, but I imagine it's something somewhat similar): IF you're using USB host mode (especially if you're using the auto-switching OTG adapter) and you take the device out of host mode BEFORE disconnecting the keyboard itself from the USB bus, the kernel never receives the USB disconnect signal, so it never removes any of the sys or device entries for the keyboard (it thinks it's still connected). It's a problem that we've run into for all of the USB devices, and the only really viable solution at this point is to be careful with how you handle things. For example, if you've got the auto switching OTG adapter:

This scenario will cause the problem every time:
- Connect OTG adapter with USB keyboard plugged into it
- All works, you type, yada yada yada
- You unplug the OTG adapter with the USB keyboard plugged into it
- Onscreen keyboard will not return.

Compared to this which will never cause the problem (as far as I can tell):
- Connect OTG adapter with USB Keyboard plugged into it
- All works, you type, yada yada yada
- UNPLUG USB KEYBOARD from OTG adapter, leaving OTG adapter sitll connected to tablet.
- Wait a second (well probably by this point not really required, but you get the idea)
- Disconnect OTG adapter from tablet.
- Onscreen keyboard will return normally.

Now, that should only affect USB keyboards, since it's a USB problem that's causing it... BUT, I would guess that if for some reason the BT keyboard looses connection or the tablet doesn't "unpair" successfully with it, you'll run into the same scenario...

-Rob

Another issue that sometimes afflicts the N800 (not N810): After Ctrl-Space or some such (from USB or BT keyboard), you get a narrow, completion-only bar designed for the N810's thumbboard. It could be helpful, but the trouble is, after disconnecting the external keyboard, it locks into that mode; stylus-tap, finger-tap, or d-pad enter all bring the completion bar (but no keyboard) up. The fix for this one:
Yep, my N800 thinks it has a slide, and that slide is open.
Seems like a script that sets keyboard-attached and slide-open both false belongs in powerlaunch, osso-statusbar-cpu, personal menu, and/or command-navigator.